Frank Hoy, Paul R. Beswick Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in WPI's School of Business, received the Max X. Wortman Jr. Award for Lifetime Achievement in Entrepreneurship from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) at the association's 2014 conference in Fort Worth, Texas.
This award, instituted in 2004, recognizes a lifetime of entrepreneurial achievement encompassing the ideals of entrepreneurial activity. Eligibility extends to USASBE members who have engaged in successful venture creation, and to those whose life's pursuits supported and advocated entrepreneurial ideals. The award was named for former USASBE president Max S. Wortman Jr., its first recipient.
"It is a special honor to receive an award named in honor of the late Max Wortman Jr.," Hoy said. "Max was a close friend and a true pioneer of entrepreneurship research and education, as well as the discipline of management, generally. He set the standard for many of us.
"One of the benefits of being an entrepreneurship educator is that we receive the equivalent of lifetime awards almost daily. We receive awards when our students and alumni launch their ventures, when the projects they take on lead to growth and prosperity for others, and when graduates contact us through social media to express appreciation or request advice. Recognitions like the Wortman Award reinforce what we already feel through our professional activities."
Hoy, director of the WPI Collaboration for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, was recognized by his peers for playing a leadership role in advancing entrepreneurship education and research. He has been an active member of USASBE for many years, serving as its president in 2003. He continues a long, distinguished career spanning three decades in which he has contributed in outstanding ways to education, research, and practice and started and nurtured numerous ventures. Additionally, he has published more than 50 academic articles on small business and entrepreneurship and coauthored nine books and textbooks.
After receiving his PhD in management from Texas A&M University, Hoy held the chair for the Study of Trade in the Americas and was director of the Centers for Entrepreneurial Development, Advancement, Research, and Support in the College of Business Administration at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). From 1991 to 2001, he served as dean of UTEP’s Business College. His professional service includes having served as chair of the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management, senior vice president of the International Council for Small Business, vice president of the Family Firm Institute, and president of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. He is currently president of the Family Enterprise Research Conference.
Hoy's research concentrations are family business, entrepreneurship and economic development, franchising, and technology entrepreneurship. He is a past editor of Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice and was editor for Latin America for the Journal of World Business. His most recently co-authored books are Entrepreneurial Family Firms (2010) and Small Business Management (2014). Hoy is a fellow of the Family Firm Institute, the International Council for Small Business, and the International Family Enterprise Research Academy.
